‘Eddie Probably Wouldn’t Want Anybody To Know This’: Beverly Hills Cop Star Reveals What’s Kept Him Close With Eddie Murphy Over The Years

When the Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F premiere date arrives on July 3 it will be the first time that Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold have been on screen together in the franchise in 30 years. But while the sequel has taken decades to finally materialize, it turns out the two actors have remained close in the years between films, and see each other every year, when they go duck hunting together.

I certainly didn’t have “Eddie Murphy loves duck hunting” on my bingo card unless maybe I learned he was a fan of the classic Nintendo game Duck Hunt. But Judge Reinhold tells THR that duck hunting is actually a favorite pastime for Murphy, who has an extensive collection of taxidermy birds, and the pair have been hunting together for years. Reinhold explained…

I feel like if Eddie Murphy wanted the world to know he was an avid duck hunter, we’d know it, so this probably is something he was keeping intentionally hushed up. Hunting isn’t seen as the most noble pastime by many people, so that’s understandable. Still, I’m dying to know how Eddie Murphy (who was born in Brooklyn) became a guy who goes duck hunting in Minnesota once a year.

There’s a scene in Beverly Hills Cop II where Ronny Cox’s character calls up Axel Foley to cancel a planned fishing trip. It’s a cool little moment for fans that reveals that since the events of the original movie, Foley and the cops from Beverly Hills became real friends, hanging out and even going on vacation together.

It’s unclear exactly when the yearly duck hunting trip started, but it sounds like this movie moment may have been based in reality, as at least Murphy and Reinhold truly became friends. The two actors were the closest in age in the core cast, so that’s maybe not a surprise.

The Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F cast brings together several of the players from the original trilogy while also adding a few to the mix. While Murphy and Reinhold spend time together yearly, actor John Ashton apparently doesn’t go on the duck hunting trips. Reinhold says that when he, Ashton, and Murphy filmed a scene in a car, a callback to the classic scenes from the first Beverly Hills Cop, it was the first time the trio had been together since the last Beverly Hills Cop movie.

All three Beverly Hills Cop movies are available for those with a Netflix subscription so they can get caught up ahead of the release of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on July 3.